Category Archives: memes

arts, beliefs, environment, food+drink, history, links, medical, memes, science

Monthly Links

Well then … Here we go with another collection of links to items you didn’t know you didn’t want to miss.

Science, Technology, Natural World

In the latest of the grand space projects, NASA has retrieved a couple of hundred grams of an asteroid and dropped it back to Earth.

Now we’re coming down to the top of a 22,000-foot volcano where Earth’s highest-dwelling vertebrates have been found

Japan has a new island thanks to an underwater volcanic eruption.

Still on the fiery nature of Earth, there’s been a swarm of earthquakes happening in Iceland, which likely precedes a volcanic eruption.

Still on earthquakes, a researcher, at the Vatican Library, has found a 500-year-old Hebrew note which reveals an unknown earthquake swarm in Italy.

Now to the natural world …

Serotine bats (above) have surprised scientists by being the first known mammal to have procreative sex without penetration.

Staying with rodents … experiments suggest that rats may have the power of imagination.

In the Amazon there’s a somewhat horrifying parasitic wasp (below) with a huge head, and it is just one of over 100 newly discovered species.

This is somewhat bizarre … it seems that starfish are just a large, flattened head, with no body. [££££]

Health, Medicine

Scientists seem to have worked out why some people get headaches from drinking red wine.

And now we have three items for the female population …

In the first, OB/GYN Dr Jen Gunter tries to once and for all explode the myth of menstrual synchronization.

Dr Gunter then looks at the sense in poking garlic up your vagina.

Finally academic sex researcher Dr Kate Lister tests oral probiotics for vaginal health. [££££]

Sexuality

And now on to actual sexuality … in which Dr Emily Nagoski looks at some approaches to sex for the disabled.

Expert sex therapists suggest the usual 20 ways to revive your flagging libido.

Environment

On the interaction between wild pigs and golf courses.

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

Why is there this assumption British voters become more Conservative with age – and is it true?

Let’s obscure the players’ genders and then see how men’s and women’s soccer compare.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

Archaeological finds are revealing that art is much older than our species. [LONG READ] [££££]

There’s a boom in people taking up life drawing.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Near China’s “Terracotta Army” archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a 2000-year-old sheep-drawn chariot.

Moving west, a large number of clay stamps used to seal Roman documents (above) have been discovered in Turkey.

Meanwhile off the coast of Sardinia divers have discovered around 50,000 Roman coins.

A cartographer has created a London Underground style map of Britain’s Roman Roads.

Excavations around Sutton Hoo in Suffolk continue to turn up suprises. One latest find is the remains of what might be an early 7th-century temple.

Coming gradually up to date … A hoard of medieval pennies dating from the reign of King Stephen has been found in Norfolk.

In Germany they’ve found a centuries old grave containing a skeleton with four prosthetic fingers.

Dr Eleanor Janega takes reveals the real story behind the killing of Joan of Arc.

Forensic research proves that the Ancient Ram Inn in Wotton-under-Edge (above) is old, but not as old as is made out. [LONG READ]

London

Here’s a look at the life of Wenceslaus Hollar who is best known for his panoramic views of 17th-century London (below).

Food, Drink

The convoluted story of the sandwich called Gua Bao. [LONG READ]

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Mathematician Kit Yates looks at whether the time has come to stop changing the clocks twice a year.

Cheese-rolling, straw bears and weird rituals: one man has made it his life’s work to record the whole of British folklore, and he now has a massive collection.

There’s a collection of walks around the UK’s strange and sacred sites.

Returning to sex researcher Dr Kate Lister, she’s written about growing out her pubic hair for the first time in 20 years. [££££]

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

And finally, in a surprise revelation it has been discovered that a supposed Yeti hair actually belonged to a horse.

memes, music, personal

Ten Albums

A friend over on Facebook has been tasked with choosing ten albums that greatly influenced his taste in music; one a day for ten days; no explanation; no reviews; just album covers.

I’ve been meaning to do this myself for quite a while, so I thought I’d play along, but as always I’ll eviscerate the rules: I’m posting them all at once and here, rather than on Facebook.

So here are my ten albums – well no, actually some are just works (large or small) as there’s a large representation of classical as opposed to pop. They’re here all at once, in no particular order. Oh, and only one item per group or composer.

Monteverdi; 1610 Vespers
(John Eliot Gardner)
Byrd; Gradualia
(broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 1970s)
Carl Orff; Carmina Burana
(André Previn)
Beatles; Abbey Road
Bach; Toccata & Fugue in D Minor
(Peter Hurford)
Pink Floyd; Dark Side of the Moon
Caravan; Land of Grey & Pink
Louis-Claude d’Aquin; Noël Étranger
(Noël VIII) (Michel Chapuis)
Yes; Close to the Edge
Handel; Messiah
(this is the score of the Prout edition we sang in the school choir)

I’m not nominating people to pick up the thread, but do join in if you wish.

medical, memes, science

Ten Things: November

This year our Ten Things column each month is concentrating on science and scientists.

Where a group is described as “great” or “important” this is not intended to imply these necessarily the greatest or most important, but only that they are up there amongst the top flight.

Medical Discoveries

  1. Blood groups
  2. Transplant surgery
  3. Antibiotics
  4. Circulatory system
  5. Germ theory
  6. Insulin
  7. Vaccination
  8. Anaesthesia
  9. Oral contraception
  10. Blood transfusion
memes, personal

Unblogged October

Sun 1 Good grief, we’re 3/4 of the way through the year! Although it’s quite warm, it’s getting dark and dreary – the dismals (ie. SAD) are beginning to get me. Arrggghhhh!!!!!
Mon 2 It’s time to think about Christmas cards. As some here will know for the last 20 years we’ve had our own cards printed, as large postcards, often using one of my photos. We’re investigating something different this year; if it works it’ll still be a postcard but of some collage. We’re experimenting.
And as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, postcards work extremely well. Printed in bulk they’re cheaper than cards, they avoid all the faff of envelopes, and they hinder the writing of “family letters”.
Tue 3 A few days ago, when watering the plants on the study windowsill, I managed to water the scanner – rather more than I thought. In consequence it had some significant water ingress and despite mopping it out there was obviously water damage to the electrics as the scans didn’t properly. So buy a new scanner, which arrived today. It’s cheap and cheerful; not yet convinced about the quality of the scans, but it’ll do for a while.
Wed 4 N’s birthday. We went to dinner wih a long-time friend, and very pleasant it was – made better by it being our first social outing in in seems like forever.
Thu 5 Late abed last night, so had the luxury of a lie-in (well more like a good sleep-in) this morning. Consequently not much got done, except we did manage to audit the freezer – and just as well because the running log was 50% wrong!
Fri 6 How can the supermarket so comprehensively bugger up our delivery. 75% of what we ordered was just shown as unavailable. Of what we did get (ie. not a lot) we got milk which we hadn’t ordered, and double rations of two varieties of cat food. Central Customer Services didn’t know what had happened and had no reports of anything – but did help by creating a repeat order for tomorrow. Customer Services at the Fulfilment Centre rang me later on, but she still didn’t know what had happened and was demanding the warehouse find out – we both suspected a computer glitch. But everyone was duly apologetic and agreed it really shouldn’t have happened under any circumstances and we’d none of us seen anything like it before. Luckily, having worked so long in IT, I understand that these things can occasionally happen.
Sat 7 Fortunately today’s repeat supermarket delivery was fine, barring the expected odd couple of items unavailable. So a great cook-a-thon happened this afternoon – using all the old apples and tomatoes (not together), as well as making mincemeat & apple tart and a sausage and veg traybake for dinner.
Sun 8 At last the Jerusalem Artichokes have got a good display of small yellow sunflower-ish blooms. They’re only about 10cm across, but rather pretty. This isn’t surprising as they are very closely related to sunflowers; they’re all Helianthus spp.Jerusalem artichoke flowers
Mon 9 Having casseroled all the surplus tomatoes on Saturday, today they were turned into tomato & bean soup. Tomatoes pushed through the Mouli; onion & garlic sweated in butter; add the tomato, various seasonings & herbs, and a tin of blackeye beans. A substantial evening repast with some added grated cheddar and hunks of bread.
Tue 10 02:45. Fox barking out in the street. Can’t see it, but it sounds as if it’s a short way away. Actually I’m not sure there aren’t two – one in each direction. Probably territorial; it’s a bit early for fucking season.
Wed 11 Decided that my dermatology appointment scheduled for tomorrow would be a complete waste of time – it’s only a follow-up from January and there’s nothing worth looking at. So I cancelled it.
Thu 12 There’s something odd in the air round here at the moment. A couple of evenings ago one of the local pubs was burned out. It created absolute chaos at the time as it’s on a busy main road – and of course there was the usual crowd of sightseers. It’ll be interesting to see the conclusions of the fire investigation.
Then yesterday a family of beavers (2 adults, 3 kits) were released into an enclosure by the canal, about a mile away. Even the Mayor of London turned up! Said beavers are supposed to be re-engineering the water/marsh there, but I don’t see that there’s enough tree habitat for them. I hope I’m wrong, but I’ll give them 3-4 months before some thug has either culled them, or they have to be rehomed.
Fri 13 Our Christmas cards have arrived. They’ve turned out better than I expected. But you’ll have to wait to see them.
Sat 14 After a summer hiatus, another excellent literary society online talk, hosted by yours truly. We’re getting too good at this.
Sun 15 Why doesn’t it get any better? There’s always so much to do, and however hard you work you never seem to make any progress or reduce the length of the to do list. It’s almost always a case of you really need to do A urgently, but before you can do that you have to do B, and that needs C and D doing – but D can’t be completed until A is done! Arrggghhhh!
Mon 16 Oh bugger! Woke up this morning with a headache and dizziness – so much so that I was slightly queasy. That scuppered accompanying N to her hospital specialist appointment. Bloody labyrinthitis.
Tue 17 Rinse and repeat – although some of the soapiness has been washed out.
Wed 18 It’s raining. How unusual! The Rosie Cat has just come in and she’s sparkling in the light from tiny water droplets in her fur, almost as if the kids have sprinkled her with glitter. Really a rather fetching look!
Thu 19 Oh God! It’s crap IT month. First a dead scanner. Then a dead printer. And today my PC won’t start. No time to try to find out what’s happening, so I have to try to do everything from the laptop, plus the backups (on the server) which, of course, didn’t run last night. I don’t need this!
Fri 20 What a nightmare week. I feel completely shell-shocked. I’d like to say I’ll have a quiet weekend, but if nothing else I need to investigate what ails the PC. First I have to extract the tin box from its corner. Lucky I had the laptop pretty much ready to roll – although I keep having to drag files off the backup server and install odd bits of software, so everything is taking extra time. But we’re getting there.
Sat 21 Result! After lunch I bit the bullet and attached my wounded PC. It was refusing to boot; clearly not picking up the boot drive. Ensure everything inside is firmly plugged; and it has power OK. Swap the two drives to see if the cables are dead; or maybe the boot disk. Nope. Nothing. So I wonder if the power cable is dead; try plugging into a different socket on the power distribution. Yes! Everything works. So clearly one channel in the PC’s power supply has died; but (for now at least) the rest are OK. And we’re back in business! Job done in an hour, including recovering the updated files from my laptop. Phew!
Sun 22 After all that rain and gloom the second half of the night was clear – at least it was crystal clear at 06:30 with Saturn shining really brightly in the western sky. It was, however still overcast at midnight, so we missed the display of Orionid meteors.
Mon 23 What happened!? I actually managed to pick up a project rewriting web material for the literary society I’d not touched for over a year, and which should have been done ages ago. That was after I’d spent ages on IT support for the society.
Tue 24 Spent half the day looking at new laptops for N and maybe a new PC for me. More money! We’re having an expensive month. Luckily we have the money – but not for long at this rate.
Wed 25 Wasted so much of the day, again, looking at laptops and PCs. Nothing much usefully achieved other than the grocery order.
Thu 26 So finally I managed to get our new PCs on order. Laptop for N, and a new high-spec PC for me.
After this I discovered that somewhere in the IT chaos I’d lost the records for half a dozen new members from the literary society membership database. So that wasted a good hour putting it right.
Fri 27 Things are definitely weird round here. I’ve never been one for dreaming a lot; I could go weeks or even months without being aware of a good dream. But recently – say the last month – that I’ve been dreaming much more than usual. Well at least much more than I am normally aware of. And it seems to be mostly before waking in the morning rather than the middle of the night. I’m not one for recording dreams, trying to store them in memory, or trying lucid dreaming, so I don’t have much of a handle on what these recent dreams contain. I just have this vague memory that they’ve all involved some bizarre synthesis of school, university and my former work – pick any two, or even all three. I cannot explain why this is happening. There’s no obvious trigger: no change of medication; I get really good scores from my CPAP machine; I don’t watch horror movies or read horror stories; I don’t eat late at night. But there must be something triggering it. It’s very odd.
Sat 28 All children should be microchipped at birth. Discuss over dinner. Well we do it for our cats, dogs, horses etc., so why not our kids?
And the rest of us can get a catch-up chip with our flu jab or the like.
Sun 29 Evening meal: Roast chicken thighs with pork stuffing, with bubble-and-squeak du maison; followed by apple & mincemeat crumble & cream. And a bottle of very nice Greek white wine.
Mon 30 It’s no bloody wonder the counrty’s in a mess. You book the guys to come and take away a pile of rubbish. Yes, they say, we’ll be there between 13:00 and 16:00. Are they? Not a chance. It’s now 19:40 and pitch dark, and they’re now supposed to be here in the next 10 minutes. Ah, door bell; they arrived as I typed at 19:45. One lad; but very efficient; here and gone in 20 minutes. Job done, apart from some sweeping up to do in daylight. Phew!
Tue 31 Is it my back? Or my bowel? Or my bladder? I can’t work it out, but it’s bloody uncomfortable. I foresee another trip to the doctors. One is not amused.
memes, science

Ten Things: October

This year our Ten Things column each month is concentrating on science and scientists.

Where a group is described as “great” or “important” this is not intended to imply these necessarily the greatest or most important, but only that they are up there amongst the top flight.

Great Biologists

  1. William Harvey
  2. Charles Darwin
  3. Aristotle
  4. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
  5. Carl Linnaeus
  6. Alexander Fleming
  7. Edward Jenner
  8. Robert Hooke
  9. Hippocrates
  10. Gregor Mendel
amusements, memes, personal

Unblogged September

Thirty things what happened during the month but which I didn’t write about elsewhere.

Fri 1 At last. The insurance has decided they’re going to cough up for Boy’s expensive vet visits. Of course, that’s all except the £140 excess. I have to admit to being surprised: we changed insurers earlier this year from PetPlan (ouchily expensive) to John Lewis (acceptably cheaper) for apparently the same cover. I thought they’d look at Boy’s history and decide what he had was a pre-existing condition and not covered; but clearly not. Now we just need the money in the bank account.
Sat 2 The blue tits are back. I’ve not seen a (feathered) tit in weeks and weeks. But lunchtime today there was one pecking industriously at the peanut feeder outside the dining room window; and another flitting about.
Sun 3 ‘Twas the day to retrieve the wasp traps from season 2 of Big Wasp Survey. And we have … a null result. I do wonder if this season is actually too early; wasps are still around but still seem to be hunting prey rather than sugar. Suggested to Big Wasp Survey that we maybe need to run session 2 a couple of weeks later. So, in part as a test, I put out another 2 traps for this week, which will still count for the survey.
Mon 4 Why does mouthwash have to taste so vile?
Tue 5 Woke up with a cracking headache having had a bad night. Why always before a busy day? So rearranged this morning’s optician’s apointment for next week. Went back to bed for a couple of hours dozing and felt much better.
Wed 6 Bloody hell it’s hot. I’ve been sitting here all day, with the windows wide open, absolutely dripping wet – might as well have been in a sauna. Actually it’s not the heat that’s the problem, it’s the humidity making everything close and sticky. We need a good thunderstorm, but it doesn’t look like we’re going to get one.
Thu 7 Harvested the first of this year’s chilli crop. So far just one small red scotch bonnet from the one remaining of last year’s plants. But something over a dozen yellow ones. There are a few more coming – maybe another 10 – but I don’t think we’re going to have a bumper harvest this year. Not that this matters as we still have a large bag of last year’s chillies in the freezer.Chillies
Fri 8 44 years ago today it was a lovely bright, sunny, warm late summer day; just glorious as early September usually is … and just right for our wedding at St Peter’s, Acton Green. That day was so nice we both walked the 400m round the corner to church. Today we’re melting because for the fifth day in a row the temperature has topped 30°C. How did any of that happen? We still don’t know how we got here!
Sat 9 We’re melting – again! For the sixth day in a row the temperature has topped 30°C despite the fact that autumn must be here. The lovely Gleditsia tree outside our house has it’s first autumn coloured leaves. It’s always the first to change colour: to a glorious golden yellow. Within a week or two it will be completely golden. It’s amazing how it does so well as it is one of the last trees into leaf and the first to change in autumn. But well it does; it grows 30-50cm a year!
Sun 10 Another disappointing null result from the wasp traps this week. There are still wasps around, but I guess it is too hot for them to be winding down yet.
In fact it’s so hot one feels dopy in the head, incapable of movement and not needing much to eat. The seventh day of getting to 30°C, although it did cool a bit during the afternoon and there was a bit of drizzle.
Mon 11 What’s happened? What day is it? I’ve totally lost track. I’m completely in limbo. Turning into a zombie. Totally disengaged. Completely anaesthetised. Probably a combination of stress and depression.
Tue 12 This morning, Tilly cat decided it was time to keep the printer in its place. Who would ever think she was 10 earlier in the summer.Cat on printer
Wed 13 This morning happened my much delayed repeat eye test, with the head guy at my opticians. We’re both slightly puzzled but he could see some possible explanations for the aberration of the new left lens which is totally out of focus. After a very detailed test he’s tweaked my prescription, including reinstating the removed astigmatism correction, and is remaking the glasses (thankfully at their cost!). What I’d never realised before is the extent to which eyes can vary even during a test (as mine clearly were), and the possible slight variation of test results between different optometrists. The former must in part be due to the extent to which one’s eyes are watering etc.; and I guess the latter is partly down to the subjective way in which they do the tests and the dependence on the patient’s responses. Fingers crossed that it’s all OK this time.
Thu 14 Trip to the hospital for an audiology appointment this morning. In and out before my appointment time. Waiting outside afterwards to be picked up, I stopped to photograph a couple of pretty flowers.Hospital FlowersHospital girl
Fri 15 Feeling stressed. Too much happening. Not looking forward to tomorrow. Not my monkey but too much to go wrong.
Sat 16 Bugger. We both got up feeling Meh! N worse than me and queasy. Neither of us felt up to travelling, so sadly we had to miss the unveiling of the plaque to AP on his house in Chester Gate (report here). Not pleased. And continued to feel rubbish all day; if no better tomorrow we’ll have to test for the plague.
Sun 17 Rain! Right on cue at 13:30. And dear God it was dark – it could have been a December afternoon.
Mon 18 Thunder and lightening, not very frightening – to paraphrase Queen. Even though it was at 01:00. Again as predicted. But it was a fitting opening to a very crap Monday, although we did get our Covid jabs booked for later in the week.
Tue 19 In a few days over 6 months I’ve now passed 50 Postcrossing cards received as well as 50 sent and arrived – with another eight still travelling. In round numbers that’s two in and two out a week. The quality of the cards received and the messages on them is very variable, but that isn’t the point – it’s more about communication and enjoyment. Most cards have been to or from Germany, followed by the US – but only one sent and one received from the Southern Hemisphere (Indonesia and Australia respectively). Otherwise a spread across Europe, Asia (including China & Russia) and North America. So far complete blanks for Africa and South America. Here are cards 1-50 on our corkboard.Postcrossing cards 1 to 50
Wed 20 Off to see the wizard … well to get a Covid jab. Bookings opened on Monday and, having been tipped off by our neighbour over the road, we were able to book our jabs (and she hers) at the same time and the same pharmacy. So we all went together in the same minicab. The other two also had their flu jabs, but I declined as it always knocks me out for a day or two and I can’t afford that this week. All very efficient and quick (which is why we chose that pharmacy a couple of miles away); we were all 3 in and out in under 20 minutes. I subsequently booked my flu jab at the doctors for next week.
Thu 21 It’s an ill wind … The boiler man cometh. Oh no, the boiler man cometh not. Apparently he’s managed to hurt his head this morning so has had to cancel. Luckily all we need is the annual service. At least it took the pressure off the day.
Fri 22 Another small crop of chillies today. Two small red scotch bonnets, a couple of large yellow Jalapeno-like, and three slender hot lemon. Some will be used right soon; the others will go in the freezer. Only another 3 or 4 obviously on the way, but there may be some small ones; and also not a lot of flower now. Mind the plants screen about half the study window; they’re a good curtain!Chillies
Sat 23 It’s all right innit when the cat gets a 3 course meal and you only have 2 courses! All three cats had cod for their tea (an occasional treat) followed by some titbits of lamb from our roast. Tilly then had a third course of half a teaspoon of cream – she’s a grazer and eats only small amounts at a time, but wants a regular supply; the other two just eat. We had roast lamb with jacket potatoes and steamed mixed veg; followed by some nectarines.
Sun 24 I still do not understand why things are so knackering. Spent a good chunk of the day sitting at the desk doing mailing etc. for the literary society. And a couple of hours writing blog material, plus keeping an eye on the gardener, and trying to catch up on things which weren’t done during the week and should have been because more urgent stuff intervened. Exhausted by dinner time.
Mon 25 Collected my new glasses, and they’re fine. Everything is just that little bit sharper, and I’d adjusted to them even before I left the opticians. Result – at last.
Outside the opticians there’s this crazy 2 foot length of double yellow lines.Silly double yellow lines
Tue 26 Today in 1969 (when I was just about to go to university) saw the release of one of the great albums of all time: The Beatles, Abbey Road. The studios and “that zebra crossing” in Abbey Road, NW1 still draw crowds of tourists despite being nothing special.
Wed 27 Flu jab day. Lovely nurse at the doctors as efficient as ever. Why do they put a silly little round plasters over the injection site? There and back in under 30 minutes. I await the after effects.
Thu 28 Not a lot got done today ‘cos I felt “meh” and out of sorts yesterday afternoon and today; beginning to clear a bit by teatime. Probably the effect of the flu jab, which has otherwise just given me a slightly sore arm. Hopeful that with a decent night’s sleep I’ll be OK tomorrow.
Fri 29 Oh FFS! It’s the depression again! Unable to do anything useful, let alone think. It’s well past time for a new head and a new body.
Sat 30 Cometh the gardener, and it’s apple picking day. Just a dozen from the small Falstaff tree but nothing from Pinova – although we’ve already had a couple from each. So only a small crop, but worthwhile nonetheless.Apple crop